Twisted Fates
by MiniJen
Summary: Five years have passed since Ganondorf's defeat. Five years have also passed since Link mysteriously vanished, leaving Tetra empty and alone. However, the Hero of Winds is not gone forever, for when he finally makes his sudden return, a new evil rises up from the depths of the sea... The Great Sea has changed, and its nothing like it used to be. Full description inside.
1. Prologue: The Ghost Ship

**AN (feel free to skip if you just want to get right into the story)-Hello All! So, for those of you who have been following me and taking occasional looks at my profile, you'll have been able to see that I've been planning this one for quite a while. My original intent was to not start this one until I was in the middle of writing the third book in my Bound Destines trilogy (I'm in the middle of the second book at the moment), but there are several reasons why I wanted to start this so badly. The first is that my brain won't shut up about this story, and I'm really excited for it! The second is that I've been obsessing over the Wind Waker lately, and since the release of WWHD is so close, I decided to unleash my latest creation upon the fanfic communities! Yay! So anyway, let me just state for those of you who are fans of my trilogy, I will by NO means be putting it on halt to write this. This is going to be another epic project, but I'm writing it solely because I want to. Now, for some background info (Otherwise called me rambling on about pointless stuff for a while because I want to)...**

**Twisted Fates is not related to the Bound Destines Trilogy in any way. The title may sound like an allusion to it, because it is, but its not part of the trilogy directly. I had once planned to write a Wind Waker story as part of the trilogy (Since it consists of OoT, SS and TP, with MM elements peppered throughout), but then I realized that I had no idea how to do that. So, instead I decided to take another original idea I had and work with that instead. Twisted Fates will most likely make indirect allusions and refrences to pretty much every single Zelda game out there in its characters, plot and other elements, but it is predominately based within the world of the Wind Waker. It will largely center around things in the adult timeline at large (including direct refrences to Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks), since I want to make a more cohesive tale about what could have potentially happened post-Wind Waker leading up to Spirit Tracks. :) There is one important thing I should mention though... In this story, I'm going to make a huge retcon and change how the events of Phantom Hourglass went about and how the actual plot went, so it will favor my main story much better. Its hard to explain right now, but once I write it in the story, it will all slowly hopefully start to make sense. :D**

**Now knowing the nature of the Wind Waker and the fact that many consider it to be a 'kiddy" game, I've never seen it that way. In fact, I think it has one of the darkest storylines in any Zelda game and that's what makes it one of my favorites! Likewise, this story is not going to be a light, fluffly jaunt. Like my Bound Destinies stories and many of my other works, this story is going to be rather dark. Its rated T for a reason, but don't worry, there won't be anything too graphic or explicit in here, since that just isn't my style. But as a forewarning there will be violence, blood, deep emotional turmoil and themes, some very mild adult themes, and possibly a few other things that I can't think of right now... Also know that this story is going to be chock full of romance, drama, action, adventure, mystery, some humor, angst, hurt/comfort, and more!**

**MORE DETAILED SYPNOSIS! (Without revealing too much because I want a lot of things to be a "secret to everyone" ;) The story's prologue (aka this first chapter) is going to take place a few months after the Wind Waker (Around the time you would think PH would start). It starts with Link and Tetra (who will both be 12 in the beginning of the story, as that's how old I think they are in the game) and the pirates, sailing around, looking for the land that will become the next Hyrule. Like in the beginning of Phantom Hourglass, they encounter the Ghost Ship, but here's where the retcons start to come in. Instead of Tetra leaping onto the ship like in the game, Link does instead and the ghost ship appears to go down with him on it. Tetra and the rest of the crew believe that the Hero of Winds has been killed in the sinking, but in reality he was whisked away to the waters of the Ocean King (from PH, ya know), where he becomes stranded for quite some time thanks to the monster Bellum, who is terrorizing the area. In both worlds, five years pass simultaneously (and in my interpretation, time passes in the same way for both the Great Sea and the world of the Ocean King, unlike in the game). Link, now 17, was able to defeat Bellum, but because of the Ocean King's significantly weakened state, the hero was unable to return home all this time. However, during a rare natural phenomenon, the Ocean king is able to temporarily regain his full powers again and he is able to use them to send Link back to his home world. Meanwhile Tetra, also 17, has spent the past five years embittered by the loss of the hero, whom she had considered to be one of her few actual friends. She blames herself for the accident and as a result, she keeps to herself, letting no one, not even her loyal crew in on her inner heartache. However, on one fateful night, she encounters the hero she had long thought to be dead and despite Link's clear joy in seeing her again, Tetra refuses to believe that he is anything more than another dream or illusion sent to haunt her. The hero continues to pursue the pirate captain, desperately trying to convince her that he really is back, but little do either of them know that something treacherous is rising up from the depths of the ocean. An evil that seeks the life of the hero and the love of the pirate girl... The Great Sea has changed, and its nothing at all like it used to be...**

**And that's my VERY long plot sypnosis! Yeah, it may have been a little confusing, but it will make more sense when i explain it in better detail in the story! And in case your wondering... here's a glimpse at some of the characters we might be seeing along the way. Obviously there will be Link and Tetra (and Zelda might make an appearance, I haven't decided yet), the pirates, Aryll, Grandma, Medli, Komali, Makar, Quill, Linebeck, Oshus, Ciela, Bellum (mention), some other Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass characters and a few Spirit Tracks characters later on... Plus, a main antagonist that I refuse to name at the moment... Let's just say that they've been in a few Zelda games before and they're a fan favorite... I'll leave you to guess who it is from there. It doesn't mean that I'll tell you if you're right! ;D**

**And that's pretty much it for my WAY long intro. This chapter will serve as the prologue, and the beginning of it (or my framing device) is set a few months after Spirit Tracks, though the main bulk of the story will take place in the time period of the Wind Waker (or rather, five years after it) and you'll be able to see huge references to Phantom Hourglass in this prologue ;) So with all of this huge exposition out of the way, let's get started!**

* * *

_MiniJen Presents_

_**The Legend of Zelda**_

_**Twisted Fates**_

_Prologue: The Ghost Ship_

_New Hyrule, Circa 101_

A loud and sudden whistle broke through the calm of the afternoon. The squirrels and rabbits that frolicked through the trees of the Forest Realm were startled at the noise, and were quick to flee for cover from the approaching train as it sped along the tracks that crossed the countryside.

On the outer platform of the last car of the train stood a boy, no older than twelve, frowning as he watched the scenery go by. This young boy was hailed as a hero by most of the people of New Hyrule, for along with the kingdom's young princess, he vanquished a great evil and saved the land from certain doom. However, that had been months ago. Since then, the boy had undertaken the responsibility of serving as the princess's bodyguard. It was a job that certainly had its ups and downs; on one hand, it allowed him to spend a good amount of time with the princess, who had come to be one of his closest friends over the course of the adventure they had been on together, but on the other hand, the young hero was bored. During his journey, he had gotten used to exploring the vast realms of New Hyrule by train, decoding mind-boggling puzzles, and slaying fierce monsters. Now, his duties were largely regulated to standing around while the princess preformed her royal duties, spending most of his time being cooped up in the castle, and not really doing too much of anything else. Since he had become her bodyguard, she had indeed been the safest she had ever been, but that was largely because the land was experiencing a time of great peace, with nothing placing any threat on the princess's life whatsoever. Even this short train journey, in which he was accompanying the princess to the snow realm on matters of diplomacy, was nothing more than simple trip that most likely wouldn't consist of any action or adventure. But, at the very least it was a rare chance for the young hero to leave the castle along with the princess, even if he would have liked to be the conductor of the train more than a mere passenger.

"Link?" the princess called out as she opened the back door of the train to find him there. "Oh, there you are!"

"Zelda!" Link exclaimed in slight surprise at the suddenness of her appearance as he turned to face her. "I mean, princess," he inclined his head in respect, remembering what he had been taught about how he was to address her. "I'm sorry. I was just getting some fresh air."

Princess Zelda smiled warmly, letting out a soft laugh. "Its fine, Link," she said, waving her hand aside to show that there was no need for him to use formalities at the moment, since no one else was around. "I have a feeling that if you were supposed to protect me every minute of every day, we'd both get tired of it really fast." The princess giggled again, but the hero did not join her. Instead he sighed and turned around once more, leaning on the railing as the train continued to follow its course. Zelda frowned when she noticed his melancholy and so she stepped up beside him and leaned on the railing as well.

"I know how much you've missed this..." she said to him after a moment of silence between them. "Things have been slow ever since we defeated Cole and Malladus. I'm sorry that being my bodyguard isn't as fun or exciting as I made it out to be... Its just... I knew that if you had decided to become an engineer, then I wouldn't have been able to see you as much. That's why I begged and pleaded with you to take on the job, remember?"

Link couldn't help but smile fondly as he thought back to how Zelda had hard pressed him to take on the position, promising him that it would be full of adventure and action. Though his first inclination had been to become a full-time royal engineer, he was unable to turn the princess down and so he had agreed to take her up on her offer. "Yeah," he said, glancing over at her with a slight grin. "I do..."

Zelda returned his smile only for a moment, before looking down and letting out a sad sigh. "Link?" she asked, as the hero turned to look at her fully. "If... If you could go back and do something else... would you? Knowing what you do now... would you still have chosen what you did...?"

He was silent for a moment as he thought through how to phrase his answer before giving her a soft smile and gently placing his hand over hers. "Zelda," he said resolutely. "I would have chosen you a thousand times if I had to."

The princess's cheeks grew slightly red upon hearing him say this, but she nodded her gratitude and thanks to him. However, she knew that he was still not content. Fortunately though, she knew exactly what would cheer him up. "You know..." she said as she finalized the plan in her mind. "Your answer reminds me of a story that my grandmother used to tell me that's been passed down in my family. Its about my great-great grandmother, Tetra and the Hero of Winds..." Zelda gave the hero beside her a small grin as she watched his eyes light up with interest. She had told him many stories before of the female pirate captain and the courageous hero from over a century ago, who had founded New Hyrule and made it a prosperous land, and each and every one fascinated Link to no end as they were full of adventure, action and suspense. "Its one that I've never told you before," she continued. "From when they were young. Its probably the best story about them out there, even though it hasn't made into the history books just yet... Do you want to hear it?"

"Of course!" Link exclaimed with excitement, already devoting his full attention to the princess. "I mean... Please, tell it to me, princess."

Zelda laughed and nodded as she began to recall the details of the distant tale. "Okay," she said, looking out over the passing landscape her kingdom as she started her story the way she did every story she told. "This is another one of the legends of which the people speak..."

* * *

_Southwestern waters of the Great Sea, More than 100 years ago_

The waters of the Great Sea always shined their brightest under the mid-morning sunshine. The yellow orb cast a glow upon the vast ocean as its blue waves rolled on and on for miles, to a horizon that never seemed to end. The cloudless skies above also stretched far and wide, obstructed by no nearby islands in sight. It was a part of the sea that few ever really thought to sail through, but on this particular warm and flawless day, a grand ship cut through the waters of the area. A pirate ship to be exact.

The large sail of the sizable vessel flittered in the fresh wind, which blew in the favor of the crew as they traveled through the southwestern sea under the command of their young captain. There were approaching these parts in search of a rumor. Whether or not that rumor had an ounce of truth to it was what the pirates had come to find out.

As usual, the main deck of the ship was abuzz with activity, as the crewmen hustled about, carrying out their chores and duties. Zuko, the ship's lookout, peered through his trusty telescope across the wide sea from atop the crow's nest. Mako, the brains of the crew, fiddled around with some rope near the ship's bow, most likely trying to rig some sort of contraption. Towards the back end of the ship, Gonzo, the ship's second-in-command, stood steering the ship, with Nudge standing nearby, supervising the rest of the crew in place of their absent captain.

"Hey Nudge?" Gonzo asked the pirate next to him as he took a quick glance over the deck. "Where's Miss Tetra?"

A smirk came across Nudge's face as he shook his head and chuckled. "Well, knowing Miss Tetra, I'd say that there's a pretty good chance she's below deck, looking for you-know-who..."

"Oh..." Gonzo nodded, knowing exactly who Nudge was referring to. And as it turned out, the two men were exactly right in their guess of the captain's whereabouts. Tetra was indeed storming the lower decks of the ship, on a mission to find the newest passenger on her ship and to give him the scolding he deserved.

Tetra held her expression in a firm scowl as she quickly marched down the halls of the ship's lower deck. Her hands were curled up into tight fists at her sides and she muttered to herself angrily in a low voice. "I can't believe him..." she hissed quietly. "Of all the nonsense I have to put up with... He's probably off sleeping somewhere instead of doing his chores... Well this time, its the last straw. The moment I find him, I'm gonna throw him off my ship once and for all!" The pirate girl let out a huffy breath of frustration through her nose as she headed for one of the hatches that opened up to the main deck. She emerged near the stern, and quickly made her way towards Nudge and Gonzo, who watched her with wide eyes when they noticed how angry she looked.

"Alright!" she said, crossing her arms and slamming a foot down to the ground in fury. "Where is he?!"

The two pirates exchanged a look before relenting. "Down there, Miss," Gonzo nodded towards the deck below the steering platform. "With Niko."

"Figures," Tetra sneered as she started to head to the steps that led down towards the main deck. "They're probably goofing off, as usual." She stopped short however, when she saw the sight below her as she stood near the platforms wooden railing and looked down. "Aha!" she whispered, glaring at the boy in green who lay sleeping on the deck, just as she had suspected him to be. Niko, the lowest ranking pirate on the crew, stood nearby, not even noticing that the young boy had dozed off, but instead, he was engrossed in telling a story it seemed. Tetra decided to lean forward and listen for a moment, instead of leaping down there to order them both to get back to work.

"Our story begins not long ago," Niko began after he finished rambling about the paper cut-outs he had made to accompany the tale. "There was a young girl, savvy to the seas and head of a band of pirates. Her name was Tetra. She was pretty, brash and brave."

Tetra couldn't help but smirk pridefully, knowing that everything Niko had just said about her was absolutely true. "Tetra and her handsome pirates set out to explore the vast and unfamiliar seas..." the small pirate continued. "One day, at a stop on an island, Tetra met a young boy dressed in green. After a series of strange events, the two began traveling together."

The pirate girl frowned as she recalled those strange events from just a few months ago, but Niko was nowhere close to finished yet. "They found old ruins and light enveloped Tetra. At once, she transformed into a beautiful princess. Her lineage traced back to an ancient, ruined kingdom. She was Princess Zelda of the kingdom of Hyrule."

Tetra's frowned deepened as she remembered this shocking revelation of her royal heritage. Her mother had never told her of it before her passing, and even still, the pirate girl treated her inherited title with distain, for it was something she had never wanted and something that she wished she could get rid of. "Just then," Niko went on, his eyes alight with excitement as he continued his epic tale. "A huge, ominous king appeared! He carried Princess Zelda away... The evil king sought the sacred power passed down to Hyrulian princesses. He schemed to take the power and use it for himself..."

"The Triforce..." Tetra muttered to herself, glancing at the back of her hand, which used to carry the mark of the Triforce of Wisdom upon it, until it was stolen from her by the evil king, Ganondorf. He had sought the golden power, which had the ability to grant any wish, and use it to take over the world. And he very well would have succeeded if one thing hadn't stood in his path.

"The boy chased after him, determined to save the princess. The boy crossed seas and climbed mountains. The journey was perilous. He slayed evil monsters and used their power to become a true hero."

"Ha!" Tetra scoffed quietly, glancing down at the still-sleeping boy. "What kind of hero lays around and sleeps all day?!"

"After long and hard adventuring, he defeated the evil king and beautiful Princess Zelda was rescued at last. Later, the two set out with the brave pirate crew in search of new lands...Yes, they set sail together! A happy pirate ending!"

Tetra couldn't help but smile as the story came to a close, satisfied with how it ended. Niko had summed things up pretty nicely, detailing how their current situation came to be and what their current overall goal was: to find a land that would become the next Hyrule.

Niko placed his paper cutouts aside and grinned widely. "So, what'd you think of my amazing paper cut-outs?" he asked, not aware that the boy he had been telling this story to was still snoozing. "Did you guess that Tetra was really Princess Zelda?" The pirate's smile suddenly vanished when he finally caught on that no one, save for Tetra, had really been listening to his story. "Hey!" he exclaimed in slight frustration. "Link! Are you sleeping, swabbed?"

The young hero stirred at the sound of his name, but only slightly. Tetra rolled her eyes at him, finally deciding at enough was enough. "Link!" she called out harshly, starting to hurry down the stairs before leaping down them altogether. She marched right for him, her scowl returning and her anger towards him burning hotter than ever. Niko simply stood by with a stunned expression on his face, hoping that he wouldn't catch the captain's burning wrath as well.

"Stop messing around down there!" Tetra scolded Link, placing her hands on her hips as she yelled. "You're both supposed to be on lookout!"

Link groaned sleepily as he slowly sat up. "But Tetra..." he whined tiredly.

"But nothing!" the pirate girl growled. She sighed and shook her head. "Some 'legendary hero' you are!" she scoffed. "Who would ever believe that you saved me from the evil king?"

"So you're not glad that I saved your life?" the boy challenged defiantly.

Tetra scowled fiercely at him, but then set her expression in a sly grin. "Am I glad that you saved me?" she asked rhetorically. "Yes. Do I think you could ever do it again? Goddesses, no! I mean, come on! All you do is sit around and sleep! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't toss you off this ship and leave you for the fishes!"

"One good reason?" Link asked with a clever smirk, knowing that the only way to deal with Tetra when she was in one of her common hateful moods was to retort with jokes. "Okay, I've got one: because you like me."

Tetra's eyes widened in sheer fury at this response. "_WHAT_?!" she screeched widely. "Are you kidding me?! What could make you EVER think that I actually LIKE you?!"

"Because," the hero said calmly, his smile not fading. "You know why..."

Tetra was about to send a firery comment back at him before restraining herself. She glanced around at her crew, who were all watching the scene intently, before looking down at the ground sheepishly. She knew that he was right. In fact, she had remembered confiding in him, one night not long after they set out together, when she was feeling particularly low, that she did actually trust him, perhaps more than anyone else. And aside from that, she had told him that she considered him to be one of the few actual friends that she had ever had. And considering the life-or-death circumstances they had been through together, she had every reason to both trust and befriend him. Most of the time, her anger towards him or really any one else was one of two things: a way for her to vent out her frustrations, or a front that she put on to enforce order and command amongst her crew. She didn't always mean it, and she realized, that despite her earlier anger, she didn't mean it this time either. "Fine..." she whispered so quietly that only he was able to hear her. "I'm sorry..."

Link nodded silently, accepting her apology. He knew just as well as she did how important the image she presented to her crew and the rest of the local islands were. Her desire was to be known as a fierce, strong-willed, brave pirate captain, but he knew that the pirate captain wasn't all she was. She had hidden fears and dreams, and though she liked to keep them well hidden, she had shared a few of them with him. He genuinely did care for her; after all, he had went to such great lengths to save her. He had grown accustomed to her mannerisms of anger and hostility, and he was perhaps one of the only people on the ship who knew how to really deal with her in a way that ended in peace. Both of them were at the point where they considered the other to be a good, close friend, though sometimes, the hero wondered if perhaps one day, when they were older, they would be more than that. There was no question that he liked Tetra and it was clear that she liked him too on some level, but still, both of them were only twelve, and though their experiences had matured them, they were still both too young for thoughts of romance.

"Princess Zelda!" Zuko calling out from the crow's nest broke through their subtle exchange. "We're nearly at that spot in the sea!"

Tetra scowled as she looked up, hating the mere mention of that name. "I told you not to call me Zelda!" she shouted bitterly. "Tetra worked just fine before, you know!" The pirate girl glanced a glance towards Link, who was smirking playfully at her for reasons only she knew. In private, he liked to gently tease her about her royal heritage, much to her annoyance, by calling her "Princess", "Zelda", or often times both together. Tetra glared at him, even though she felt her cheeks redden for some reason. "But enough about that!" she called out, hiding her awkward blush the best she could. "So this is where that Ghost Ship is supposed to appear? Stay on the look-out for a creepy-looking ship!"

"Ghost Ship?" Link asked with a frown. "Is that really why we've come all the way out here? Because of some stupid rumor?"

"Who said it was a rumor?" Tetra said, crossing her arms. "We've seen crazier, haven't we?"

"Well yeah," the hero admitted. "But even if it does exist, what are you planning on doing when we find it?"

"Link's right!" Niko chimed in. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Miss? What about all those ships that have gone missing in this area? I say that Ghost Ship is behind all of it!"

Tetra smirked, knowing that she had a perfect chance to scare the daylights out of her lowest-ranking crew member. "That's right, Niko," she said calmly. "Every ship disappears. And its all because of that scaaaaaary Ghost Ship! I'll bet its full of monsters... and demons... and of course, ghosts!"

"G-ghosts!?" the small pirate stammered, already quivering in his boots.

Tetra grinned back towards Link, who merely rolled his eyes at her usual antics. "Don't worry, Niko," he said reassuringly. "She's just trying to scare you."

Niko stopped shivering in fright upon hearing this and let out a half-hearted laugh. At the same time Tetra frowned at the hero. "You take the fun out of everything," she pouted jokingly, giving him a soft punch on the arm.

"Hey Tetra!" Gonzo called out from the steering platform. "They say these seas are protected, yeah? Something about a spirit called the Ocean King... Wouldn't a spirit like that protect the ships? Unless there really is an evil Ghost Ship..."

"Don't be ridiculous!" the pirate girl retorted. "There's no such thing as a Ghost Ship! I bet its just some pirates up to no good! I'll expose them as a bunch of frauds and remind them that there are rules to being pirates! And who knows? Maybe we'll even find a little treasure along the way as a bonus..."

"Is treasure all you think about?" Link asked sarcastically.

"When you're a pirate, its the _only_ thing you think about," she said, sending him a sly wink and a grin. "And besides, I doubt there really is an Ocean King anyway. Its probably some silly myth or legend made up by the locals, right along side the Ghost Ship."

"Well what about all this fog then?!" Mako called out from the ship's bow.

"Fog?" Tetra asked, glancing around and noticing that they had run into a thick patch of fog. The sunshine was completely gone, obstructed by thick dark clouds as thunder roared ominously from the heavens. "Zuko!" she called up to the look out. "Can you see anything?!"

"No, Miss!" he answered. "Its too thick!"

"The air feels chilly..." Niko mused as he began to shiver in fear again. "Eerie even... I say we take a detour around this creepy place..."

"Quit being so scared!" Tetra reprimanded. "We're here to see the world, not take detours!"

"Uh, Tetra?" Link asked the pirate captain. "Are you really sure this is a good idea?"

"Oh, come on!" she said, rolling her eyes at him. "Don't tell me that the great 'Hero of Winds' is afraid too!"

"I'm not afraid!" he said firmly. "Its just... this seems kinda dangerous, don't you think?"

The pirate girl smirked, showing no traces of fear or reservations. "Danger is always the fun part, isn't it?" she asked daringly, staring off into the fog with excitement in her dark blue eyes.

"Ship ahoy!" Zuko called out as he looked through his telescope. "Miss Tetra, I can see a ship..." he said with slight uncertainty. "Yeah, a... a ship... up ahead!" He pointed to the direction in which he had spotted the supposed ship and everyone on deck followed his gaze. And indeed, cutting through the waters and through the fog was a ship, unlike any of them had ever seen before. It was made of wood that seemed to be rotted, but somehow it still stayed afloat upon the water's surface. Its figure head was a golden skull and its sails were red, and torn to tattered shreds. Jutting from its sides were two golden fixtures, both of which poured an unearthly blue light onto the waters in front of it. No one appeared to be on it as it seemed to move through the sea on its own accord and direction. It slowly came up beside the pirate ship, nearly doubling it in size as it came to a halt and floated along side it.

"It... its... its the GHOST SHIP!" Niko cried out in fear at the monstrosity of a ship. "These waters really are cursed! Now we're doomed!"

"And you call yourself a pirate!" Tetra scoffed, rolling her eyes at him. "Please! Its just a ship! But... it does look like it could be a Ghost Ship... And like I said, there might even be a load of treasure on board!" The pirate girl's expression turned from angry to excited at the prospect of riches untold. "That's it! This is just too good of an opportunity to pass up! I'm gonna get to the bottom of this!"

As she started to approach the ship's railing, Link was quick to grab her arm and stop her in her tracks. "Tetra, wait," he said firmly, knowing she was leaping headfirst into trouble. "Think about this. What if the Ghost Ship really is cursed?"

"Pfft," Tetra rolled her eyes. "Don't make me laugh. You're only saying that 'cause you're scared!"

"I told you!" the hero said, growing more impatient with the pirate captain by the second. "I'm not scared. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be fine!" she said, roughly pulling her arm away from his grasp. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some treasure to go find."

"Tetra, stop!" Link said, taking her hand once more. "You're not going. I won't let you."

Tetra spun around and glared at him, her eyes alight with fury. "_What_?" she asked, her voice quiet but clearly shaking with rage.

The hero took in a deep breath, knowing that he was about to catch it. But at the same time, he knew he couldn't let her go through with this. Leaping on that ship would be suicide. He had already been through so much to save her before and even then, he had almost failed. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he actually did fail. "I said, I'm not going to let you go on that ship," he said calmly.

"How DARE you!" she hissed, leaning into his face with a look that could certainly kill. "I am the CAPTAIN of this ship! I will do whatever I want! You're the LAST person I would EVER take orders from!"

"Tetra, please," the boy said sincerely, finally showing a piece of how desperate he really was to keep her safe. "Don't go."

The girl's glare softened when she heard his earnest plea. Though she was still enraged with him for his clear insubordination, she finally understood that he simply didn't want to see her get hurt. She knew she could take care of herself, and that she wouldn't need his help, but at the same time, she also knew just how important this was to him. But at the same time, she wanted that treasure badly. Her pirate instincts were just too strong to leave it behind. And if she wasn't going to go on that ship, then somebody _else_ was... "Alright, fine," she said calmly, casting a small glance behind her at the Ghost Ship. "Then you go."

"What?!" Link exclaimed, taken aback by this sudden turn of events.

"You heard me, 'Mr. Hero'," Tetra said callously. "Somebody is going on that ship to get that treasure and since you're not allowing me to go, that means that you have to go instead of me. Its only fair, isn't it?"

"No!" the hero said, knowing that no one should have had a dangerous task of going on that cursed ship merely for treasure. "Tetra, what I meant is that nobody should be going on that ship at all! Its not worth it!"

"And this coming from the so-called hero who journeyed across the Great Sea and defeated an evil king?" the pirate girl challenged. "How pathetic. You know, I used to think you were kinda brave. Has sailing the seas on a big, comfy pirate ship and lazing every day made you soft?"

Link scowled at her, hating when she teased him like this. Yelling at him was one thing, but undermining his accomplishments and courage was something else entirely. But all the same, he wasn't about to let her get the better of him again.

"Tetra," he said firmly. "I'm not going and neither are you."

Tetra simply shook her head and let out a quiet laugh. "I don't think you get it," she said tauntingly. "Its either you... or me... Your choice."

The hero took in a deep breath, knowing that like him, she wasn't about to relent at all. If he refused to go, then not only would Tetra continue to hang it over his head by calling him a coward, but she'd also be throwing her own self into danger. Either way, Link knew that he'd be going on that ship, either if it was on his own or to save the pirate girl from certain danger once more. And out of those two choices, the path that kept Tetra out of danger seemed to be the best, even if there was a very high chance it wouldn't end well for him.

"Fine," he sighed in resignation as he slowly approached the railing. "I'll go." Tetra smirked victoriously at him, knowing that she had finally worn him down.

"Its not that bad," she said with consolation as she came up behind him, feeling somewhat bad about how she had insulted him. "Who knows? Maybe you'll even find a few monsters to slay in there, get a little exercise and then come back as the hero of the ship with a bounty of treasure. It'll be great."

"Sure..." Link said skeptically as he took in the sight of the ominous ship in front of him. "But until I get back, can you hold onto this for me?" He pulled something out of one of the pockets of his tunic and turned to Tetra, holding a small white baton in his hands.

"The Wind Waker?" she asked, taking the object and holding it in her hands. "What for?"

"I don't want to loose it," he said with a cryptic smile. Tetra raised an eyebrow at him, knowing that he meant to say more but wouldn't. All the same though, she nodded and placed the Wind Waker in her pocket for safe-keeping.

As the young hero stepped up onto the railing, the pirate girl couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty about the methods she had used to convince him into doing this. She had blatantly insulted him, something that she had not done since they first met. She didn't want him to get hurt, but at the same time, she was confident that if he ran into danger, he would be able to take care of on his own. _He'll be fine_... she thought as she watched him closely. _After all, if he can save the world, then he can save himself... right?_

"Are you ready?" Tetra asked Link as he prepared to jump onto the other ship.

"Yeah..." the boy nodded, trying to hide any trace of fear or nervousness, even though he did have many reservations about doing something so blindly reckless.

"Link, wait..." the girl said, coming up behind him as he glanced down at her. "I... Well, I..." She scolded herself mentally for not being good at these sort of things, but nonetheless she hurriedly untied her signature red bandana that always hung around her neck and pressed it into his hands. "Take it," she said, looking him squarely in the eyes.

"Tetra..." he said, knowing how much the scarf meant to her as he tried to hand it back. "I can't-"

"No," she said, giving him a small, sincere smile. "I want you to have it... For luck..."

"Thank you," he nodded, tucking it safely away into his pocket. With one final glance exchanged between the two of them, Link faced the Ghost Ship once more and placing any thought of danger out of his head, he closed his eyes and leapt from the safety of the pirate ship, landing squarely on the deck on the seemingly haunted ship.

"Don't come back until you find me some treasure!" Tetra called out jokingly as the thick fog quickly obscured her view of him. If he shouted an answer back, she didn't hear it. A strong silence came over over the area as every one watched and waited to see what would happen. The only sound that could be heard was the pounding of the waves against the two ships below. The pirate girl stood, watching the Ghost Ship closely as she gripped the railing tightly, silently hoping and praying that Link would make it back safely. She kept her expression cold and distant though, so none of her crew could see the fear and worry that was coursing throughout her.

Suddenly a deafening boom of thunder rattled throughout the area as a bright bolt of lightning shot down from the dark heavens, striking the Ghost Ship directly. The impact rocked the pirate ship roughly about as all of the pirates struggled to keep their footing, but as Tetra watched the lightning strike down with wide eyes he thoughts were only on one thing. "Link!" she shouted, letting her worry finally pour forth. Cold fear gripped her heart when she received no reply and it only got worse as she saw the haunted vessel burst into flames. "No!" she screamed, knowing that it would only be a matter of minutes before the ship would go down with the hero on it. She had to do something; she wasn't about to let him die because of some stupid dare. Without thinking, Tetra leapt up onto the railing of the pirate ship and prepared to leap towards the Ghost Ship, until Nudge and Gonzo quickly grabbed onto her arms stopping her in her tracks.

"Let me go!" she struggled fiercely against their grips. "I have to go help him!"

"Miss, no!" Gonzo said firmly. "We can't let you go in there and get killed, yeah? That ship is gonna sink!"

Tetra didn't stop struggling as she saw the Ghost Ship begin to tilt backwards in the water. "I don't care!" she shouted in both fury and desperation. "As your captain, I COMMAND you to put me down!"

"Miss Tetra," Nudge said as respectfully as he could. "We can't. I'm sorry. But don't worry, I'm sure he'll be OK. He's survived worse, right?"

The pirate girl glared hatefully at the older pirate but before she could say anything, the Ghost Ship split in half within a matter of seconds. Its back end continued to sink into the water until it was fully submerged, but its front end bobbed in the water for a few seconds before it began to sink backwards as well. Tetra strained her eyes to try and catch even the smallest glimpse of Link, but she found nothing amongst the tall flames. This was the fastest ship sinking she had ever seen, and that gave her the idea that the bolt of lightning that had struck it down had not been a mere accident. Maybe these waters really were cursed... But even so, the girl's heart pounded hard as she silently watched in terror and dread as the final piece of the ship slipped into the depths of the sea, leaving no trace of its presence behind. With the Ghost Ship gone, the fog vanished almost instantly and the dark clouds subsided, revealing the clear blue skies once again. The moment the ship had finished sinking, Tetra finally broke free from Nudge and Gonzo's grasp. She ran to the edge of the ship and peered down over the railing into the blue waters below, looking for any sign of the hero at all.

"Link!" she called out, almost on the verge of tears. "Link! Where are you!? Are you out there?! Answer me!"

She was answered with nothing more than the sound of the soft breeze blowing nearby. Her body grew numb as the realization set in. Link was gone, and it was all her fault. Tetra closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to look at the sight of the teasing, bright seascape. She didn't want to see the place where the Ghost Ship had been, the treacherous, haunted vessel that had taken the boy who had saved her life to his watery grave. All of the pirates looked down in silence and grief over the loss of the hero, but there was none more saddened than their young captain. Tetra kept her eyes shut until she felt something warm and wet stream down her cheek. She tentatively opened her eyes and placed a hand to the liquid as she figured out what it was. For the first time in many years, Tetra, the fierce, brash, fearless leader of the pirates of the Great Sea, heir to the lost kingdom of Hyrule, was crying, shedding silent tears over Link, the boy from Outset Island and the Hero of Winds, who had saved her life, who had been perhaps the only person who had ever been her true friend, and who was now lost forever to the same waters he had once sailed.

* * *

**And that's a wrap for my overly-long prologue! Know that the only reason its this long is because I really needed to establish the starting relationship between Link and Tetra for later on, as well as put the beginning of one of the plots of this story into place. For the next chapter, keep on the lookout for more Phantom Hourglass characters (a little Linebeck anyone?) and then after than, some huge foreshadowing to the main conflict! But I'm not giving out any huge spoilers yet! After all, I am still trying to keep the main antagonist a secret so no peeksies! Hahahah, alright so now I'm off to work on the next chapter in my Skyward Sword story, Blood and Spirit, if anyone wants to follow me there! As for this story, if you like what you see and can't wait for more, follow, favorite and most of all REVIEW please! Until next time! :D**


	2. Chapter 1: Worlds Apart

**OK, so a few things before we begin... Apparently... has been having some issues with their email notification systems, meaning that some of you guys who have already followed/favorited (thanks for doing so by the way!) might not get the update that this chapter has been posted. Its also the reason why I've waited to upload this chapter even though its been done since last week... sorry... But that's just a minor concern. **

**In other news, I hand-drew the next cover for this story myself, so I encourage you to take a closer look! I plan on putting up on my DeviantART account soon, so you'll hopefully be able to see it there too! **

**Also, thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! Keep 'em coming! I love them! So... I speed ran through Wind Waker HD with my best friend this past weekend and let me just say it is about 1 million times better than it was before (and it was already incredible to begin with!) And I don't really have that much else to say! Please enjoy the chapter and leave a review as always! :D**

* * *

_Chapter 1: Worlds Apart_

_Great Sea, near Outset Island, five years later_

The skies over the Great Sea were always their most magnificent at sunset. During the hour of twilight, they were painted a glowing mix of differing shades of violet, orange, pink and blue, all while the ruby-like sun sank over the reflective waters. The air was warm, though there was a slight chill in the wind, which was only natural as autumn was approaching. This slight breeze wafted through the sails of the pirate ship, slowly pushing it along towards its intended destination.

As was the norm, the main deck of the ship was empty at this hour, as its crew was chowing down on dinner in the galley. All of them were enjoying a well-deserved meal after a hard-day's work, save for their captain, who was alone within her densely quiet quarters, her mind swimming in thought.

"Five years..." Tetra muttered to herself solemnly as she paced around her room. She kept her gaze to the ground, watching her feet as she walked. Rather, she watched her one real foot and the wooden substitution for a lower leg that had replaced her real one two years ago, when it was practically severed in a fight. But her lost leg was the last thing on her mind on this particular evening. Her thoughts were placed instead on something that had happened five years ago to this day, back when she was a largely innocent twelve year old, rather than the scarred and bitter seventeen year old that she was now.

Tetra let out a heavy sigh as she walked over to her dresser, atop which she kept her most precious treasures: a box of jewelry that had once belonged to her mother, a set of matching stones, known as pirate's charms, that held magical communication properties, and, something that she considered to be both dear to her heart, yet painful to it at the same time. A long, thin white metal baton with delicately curled handles. The pirate captain picked it up gingerly, like she always did, and slowly ran a finger down its straight side.

"Tonight's the night..." she whispered, staring at the thing with a piercing gaze. "I'm finally letting go of you... and I'm finally letting go of him..."

It had been five long years since the incident with the Ghost Ship and ever since then, Tetra had always blamed herself for what had happened. She knew that if it hadn't been for her childish challenging and her lust for treasure, Link would have still been alive. But no; the pirate captain had put his life in danger without a second thought and he had been the one to pay the ultimate price. Chances were Tetra would always feel guilty on some level for the tragedy, but she intended to put the pain that it brought her out of her head tonight, once and for all.

The first several months had been the hardest. In fact, the very same week that the accident happened, Tetra had refused to leave her room altogether, and she had hardly touched any of the food that her crew had brought her. She had felt ill, but not in a normal sense. She had been sick with feelings of guilt, sorrow, mourning and regret. Up until that point, she had not cried since her mother died, but the tears fell like rain over the fact that the hero was gone forever. But she dared not let any of her crew members see; despite her pain, she still had a position of leadership to uphold among them. But all the same, she had stayed reclusive and quiet for those first few months, even after she finally decided to venture out of her room. But even so, she rarely ever spoke, except for when she needed to give an order or answer a question. She would eat alone in her room and she never took part in leisure activities with the rest of the crew like she used to when Link had been around. The only times she would leave the ship at all would be when there was someone trying to attack them; everything else, from treasure hunting to stocking up on previsions, she left up to the responsibility and discretion of her crew. She never smiled, she never laughed and the sparkle that used to appear in her dark blue eyes when she was excited had vanished, leaving them dim, empty, and often red-rimmed from crying.

Despite the fact that Tetra tried her hardest to hide her inner grief from them, her crew had certainly taken notice. Their captain used to be so passionate and fiery, but now she was morose and brooding over something that they all agreed was a horrible accident. Often times they would try to coax her out of her miserable mood, only to be rebutted with angry glares or harsh commands to leave her alone. They all knew better than to bring up anything having to do with the hero at all, lest they be tossed off the ship altogether. Of course, there were rare times when Tetra would seem to act her old self once more, days when she actually succeeded at suppressing her old memories and heartache, but there was always something that would throw her into a depression once more.

The first, and perhaps the worst time was only a few weeks after the tragedy itself. Tetra had begrudgingly agreed to her crew's suggestion of sailing to Outset Island in order to deliver the news of Link's passing to his family, as it was the only right thing to do. But even so, Tetra could not bring herself to even step foot off the ship along with the rest of her crew because she knew just how they'd take the news: in the same way that she had. So instead, she had simply watched from the crow's nest as Gonzo solemnly delivered the heartbreaking story to the hero's grandmother and little sister and forced herself to look away in shame as the two of them tearfully embraced in grief and sorrow over their loss. It was then that the pirate captain realized that not only had she been the one responsible for the death of perhaps her closest friend, but she had also torn his family apart as well. And it was at that moment, that she realized that this was all too real and that there was no going back to the way things used to be.

And so, Tetra had spent the past five years in largely the same manner of mourning and regression. Though she could put on a face of normality and calm, inside her mind was always dwelling on thoughts of Link and his cruel end. And she hated it; she hated how she had been the one to send him on that cursed ship, she hated how all she had been thinking about was treasure, she hated how there had been nothing she could have done to help him, she hated that he had met such a tragic fate at such a young age and most of all, she hated that out of anyone she knew, he was the one person who deserved it the least. He had saved her life and the entire Great Sea, and meeting his death upon that same sea was his ultimate reward? It just didn't seem fair to Tetra. She knew that should have gone on the Ghost Ship in his place; a brutal, thieving, feared pirate was much more befitting such a harsh way to go out than a brave, selfless, kind hero.

But even more than that, Tetra had lost someone who she knew was important to her once more, only this time, the pain was so much worse then it had been when she lost her mother. Together, her and Link had faced a great evil when they were but mere children and in they end, they had committed themselves to the task of finding a new land to reestablish Hyrule within it. Through the few months that they had spent together, they had found a way to bond and they had even formed an actual friendship, one that Tetra treasured dearly as it was the first time she had ever been friends with someone her age. Back then, she hadn't appreciated the brief time they spent together as much as she should have, but now she fully did. Yet all the same, she hardly looked back on those memories with fondness. More than anything else, she wanted those simple times of peace and friendship back, even though she knew they were long gone now. Often she wondered what it would be like if Link was still around and how their friendship possibly could have evolved over the years. There was no denying that they had been fairly close friends; if fate had permitted them to have more time together, how much could their relationship have really grown?

As much as she wanted to imagine what their future could have been like, all of her built up pain and sorrow over the situation kept her from even trying. There was scarcely a day when she didn't shed a tear over the hero's death and beyond that, her mind haunted her with constant reminders of the past. At night, her dreams, or nightmares rather, were always filled with visions of him, his death and the glaring fact that it was all her fault. Many nights she would find herself waking up to a soaking wet pillow if she was lucky; if she wasn't so lucky, she'd wake up screaming from some of the more horrifying and painful images of his death that she was forced to see.

There was no question that she was damaged from it all; it had left her broken on the inside, hopeless and alone. And the worst part of it all was that she didn't want to be like this. She wanted to be how she used to be; fearless, brash, strong-willed and outspoken, not weak and sniveling. She had clung onto the pain for five long years and she had relished this feeling of remorse for too long now. And so, she had recently decided that she was going to cut herself off from it altogether, once and for all. She was going to let anything that that had to do with the hero go, both physically and mentally. It was the only way she could move on with her life.

It was for that purpose that Tetra had given her crew the rest of the night off on this particular evening, on the fifth anniversary of the day that she had lost Link. She didn't want any of them knowing what she planned on doing, lest it bring her any more shame that she already had. She was going to Outset Island, the very place they had first met more than five years ago and she was going to say her final goodbye to him. And then, she was going to try and stop thinking about him and for all. No longer would she sit in her room alone and cry herself to sleep over him. No longer would she keep herself away from all human contact. No longer would she be weak and sensitive. She was going to be the real Tetra once more, the brave, fierce pirate girl, who was no longer a girl now, but a woman. She was going to be her old self again... She was finally going to forget...

But she knew that in the end, there were some things that she'd never be able to forget. How could she forget his warm smile and easy-going laugh? How could she not remember their long, deep conversations and how they used to playfully argue? How would she able to not think how much she really had cared about him, despite her persistent claims that she hadn't? These were things that in her heart, Tetra didn't want to forget but she knew that if she ever wanted closure, she would have to let them go too, just as much as she needed to let go of the Wind Waker that rested in the palms of her hands.

"Its the only way..." she whispered as she opened her door to go above deck as the ship made its approach on Outset. "The only way I can ever be free..."

* * *

_Waters of the World of the Ocean King, also five years later_

In a world apart from the Great Sea and all of its many islands, laid the vast waters that rested under the protection of a spirit known only as the Ocean King. In many ways, this place was like the Great Sea; the sun shone upon both oceans in the same way and in a similar manner, both carried the same flow of time, but they differed in many ways as well. The World of the Ocean King was certainly smaller, with less islands dotting it and even fewer inhabitants living upon them. And beyond that, these waters were brimming with a great power, one that dwelled within every living being, known as Life Force. And it was because of that great concentration of Life Force that in years past, the world had come under the attack of a vicious monster that had one goal alone: to consume all of the Life Force it could.

Despite the fact that the monster, known as Bellum, had been defeated four years prior, the waters of the Ocean King were still feeling the repercussions of his onslaught. The Ocean King himself had been weakened a great deal thanks to the creature and even four years later, he had still not regained all of his power. The waters of the ocean themselves were not as blue and vibrant as they used to be, even with the light of the late afternoon sun shining down upon them. A small yellow fairy took note of this fact as she flittered over the water beside a red and white steamboat that plowed through these same waters, having no set destination in particular as it sped along.

The fairy sighed in disappointment as she flew back onto the main deck of the ship, her tiny body coming to rest on the shoulder of a young man, who stood leaning against the ship's prow, looking out across the passing waves contemplatively.

"So," the fairy said in her bright and trilling voice. "The water's still not as bright as it used to be... You know, before Bellum attacked, they used to shine like you wouldn't believe!" The sprite sighed, thinking back to days long past. "Wouldn't it be great if the Ocean King and the sea got back the rest of the power that was stolen from them by Bellum? Then everything would be just like how it used to be! Don't you think?" She asked the young man, who didn't offer a reply as he was completely lost in thought.

The fairy huffed a breath of annoyance with him, knowing that he did this too often. "Hey!" she chirped, gliding directly in front of his face to catch his attention. "Link, are you listening to me?!"

"Huh?" the Hero of Winds blinked, his train of thought now completely broken. "Oh, sorry Ciela. What were you saying?"

The Spirit of Courage rolled her eyes at him, placing her tiny hands on her hips. "It doesn't matter..." she said, noticing the look of slight melancholy on his face. "You're thinking about her again, aren't you?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Who?" Link asked, even though he knew exactly who she was talking about.

"You know who," Ciela said pointedly. "Tetra."

"Oh..." the hero sighed as he glanced out across the waves once more. Scarcely had a day gone by when he didn't think about the pirate captain who he had been separated from five years ago. Of course, the circumstances that had brought him to the World of the Ocean King and kept him there for the past five years were certainly strange. Even after the Ocean King himself explained everything to him sometime after Bellum's defeat, it still didn't make much sense.

* * *

For at least the last decade, Bellum had been terrorizing the waters of the Ocean King. He had risen up from the dark depths of the sea and had been slowly but surely draining the Life Force from its inhabitants and nature itself, growing stronger and stronger as he did so. In an attempt to stop Bellum, the Ocean King opposed him in battle, but ultimately lost to the beast's great might. The ruling spirit of the sea barely escaped from the demon's grasp, but at the expense of both his powers and his true form. To survive, the Ocean King was forced to into hiding, taking on the appearance of an old man under the alias of Oshus. Bellum even subdued two of the Ocean King's servant spirits, Neri, the Spirit of Wisdom and Leaf, the Spirit of Power, who were imprisoned within the strongholds of monsters that the demon had brought to life. The only spirit to escape was Ciela, the Spirit of Courage, who fled to safety with the Ocean King. Bellum went a step further by cursing the Temple of the Ocean King, a sacred place built as a tribute to the sea's ruling spirit, but defiled by the monster's life-draining power. And with the World of the Ocean King completely at his mercy, Bellum began to drain unlimited amounts of Life Force from it, dimming its former beauty and gradually weakening its unknowing inhabitants.

But even still, the demon was not satisfied. He craved even more Life Force and in his never-ending thirst for it, he created the Ghost Ship, designed to lure people with rumors of treasure and wealth on board, into a trap so the beast could drain them of their Life Force. According to the Ocean King, around five years ago, Bellum had sensed two great sources of Life Force within the waters that acted as a gateway between the World of the Ocean King and the Great Sea. And so, Bellum guided the Ghost Ship into that area, where it encountered the pirate ship and came across both of those sources of Life Force at once: Link and Tetra. Since both the hero and the pirate had once held pieces of the Triforce, which alone permanently increased the power of the Life Force within each of them, they were both prime targets for the force-lusting demon. In truth, Tetra, Link and her crew did not find the Ghost Ship; the Ghost Ship found them.

The moment Link step foot on the Ghost Ship, Bellum knew that he had what he wanted. However, the demon was infuriated that it was unable to drain all of the hero's Life Force away, due to something the Ocean King only referred to as the strength of the "hero's spirit", which Link apparently possessed. Infuriated over his dashed plans, Bellum brought the Ghost Ship down with the young hero on board, but not before cursing him by turning him to stone until the demon could find a way to take the rest of his Life Force away.

The monster carried the statuefied Hero of Winds to the World of the Ocean King, hiding him away within the bottom of the Temple of the Ocean King, where the demon made its lair, and where Link remained in a state of froze slumber for quite some time, totally unaware of anything that happened in the outside world. The only things he was aware of were his dreams and nightmares of both his past and present. Occasionally the would feature memories of early childhood on Outset, of his little sister Aryll and his grandmother. Other times, they'd be about his journey upon the Great Sea and the people and beings he met during it, including Medli and Prince Komali of the Ritos, the Korok Makar, the Great Deku Tree, the dragon Valoo and many others. Some of his more darker visions had to do with the lost kingdom of Hyrule, buried beneath the waves forever, along with the remains of Ganondorf and the hero's former trusted companion, King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, otherwise known as the King of Red Lions. But by far, he dreamed the most about Tetra. He'd dream of the adventures upon the Great Sea that they had been on together, the late night talks that they used to share and sometimes, he'd simply dream that they were together in a comfortable silence, doing nothing but enjoying each other's company. But only when he dreamed of Tetra could he hear a small voice that only ever repeated the same command: "Wake up..." And, as days turned into weeks and weeks wore on into months, that voice only grew louder and clearer until he knew that it unmistakably belonged to the pirate captain. And as he came to that realization, Link knew that he had to find a way to follow her command and wake up, despite not knowing what he was trying to wake up from.

On one particular day, the pirate girl spoke these words to him directly within his dreams, her face looking sad and her voice pleading. "Link..." she said earnestly. "You have to wake up now... Please... This world needs you... Our world needs you..." A small tear slipped down her cheek as she began to fade away. "I... need you..." Watching her leave threw the young hero into a sudden panic as he chased after her. He knew that she was only a dream, but he didn't want to be apart from her any more. But what he really wanted was the real Tetra, not just faded glances and memories of her. He wanted to escape from this dream world that he was trapped within and return to all of the people he had been missing for what seemed like an eternity. And he knew the only way to do that was to wake up, just as the girl had said.

By summoning all of his determination and will power together, Link managed to break out of his stone prison, but all was not well. Even though he was now awake and fully mobile once more, he was still trapped within the depths of the Temple of the Ocean King, a place that, like the Ghost Ship, slowly drained the Life Force of all who entered it. From the very moment the young hero broke free, he could feel his energy begin to wane, but he was determined to make it out alive so he could return to Tetra. After all, she had said that she needed him and he had no intentions of keeping her waiting any longer.

And so, Link fought through floor after floor of the temple, growing ever weaker with each step. He had no idea where he was or how long he had been frozen for, but he was able to tell that it had been quite a long time as his physical appearance had changed. He was still just a boy, but he looked older now, somewhat more mature in his height, build and features. As he struggled through the temple he wondered just how long he had been incapacitated, and how much had changed during that amount of time. But all the same, Link wouldn't have made it through the temple at all if he had not happened to stumble upon an item simply known as the "Phantom Hourglass", which somehow kept his Life Force from being drained as quickly. However, even with the hourglass's help, the young hero barely made it out alive. No more than a moment after he dragged himself out of the temple and saw the light of day again for the first time in a long time, he collapsed, exhausted, drained and on the brink of death.

Fortunately, the boy was found and aided by old man Oshus and Ciela, who kindly nursed him back to health and provided him with answers to many of his questions. They were quick to reveal their true identities as the Ocean King and Spirit of Courage to him and they told him all about Bellum. Oshus explained what the monster had been looking for and how he had gotten a great deal of it from Link. According to the old man, the hero had been imprisoned in stone by the demon for a little over a year, much to his surprise. A whole year had passed and he had not been aware of anything that had happened during it. He realized that upon awakening, he was no longer twelve as he had been when he first leapt onto the Ghost Ship, but rather he was thirteen and chances where, that in a world away from the one he now found himself in, so was Tetra.

Recognizing the young hero's courage and strength for surviving his prolonged imprisonment and making it through the temple alive, the Ocean King asked Link to defeat Bellum and save the World of the Ocean King, with the promise that if he succeeded, he would able to return to the Great Sea once more. The Hero of Winds accepted this task and set out with Ciela to find the other two servant spirits first. Along the way, they recruited the help of the greedy Captain Linebeck, owner of the proud vessel, the SS Linebeck, which he reluctantly agreed to let the hero and the fairy set sail on in exchange for the promise that he would get treasure in the end. The trio traversed the waters of the Ocean King and eventually recovered Leaf and Neri, the other two spirits, who had been trapped by Bellum's monsters. From there, their next goal was to acquire the three Pure Metals, which together would be able to make a blade capable of defeating Bellum. After finding and forging the three metals together into the Phantom Sword, Link made his way through the Temple of the Ocean King once more, only this time with much better results. With righteous fury, he faced the beast that had captured him and trapped him for an entire year and emerged victorious thanks to his own courage, the help of the three spirits and most of all, the heroic contributions of Linebeck, who, despite his previous cowardice, leaped into the thick of the battle to help unexpectedly.

With Bellum destroyed, Oshus returned to his true form as the Ocean King and peace returned to the waters of the realm. However, not everything was fixed. Because Bellum had consumed such great amounts of Life Force, quite a bit of it had been lost completely upon his defeat. Though enough Life Force returned to the World of the Ocean King for it to sustain itself once more, the Ocean King himself had lost a great deal of power and was unable to follow through on the deal he had made with Link and send him home. Upon this discovery, the hero was dejected and thoroughly upset. After all, he had risked his life to defeat the monster, but in the end, he was still stuck within the World of the Ocean King anyway, unable to return to the Great Sea and to Tetra. And, by the way the Ocean King had explained it to him, chances were that he'd never see either of them again.

But all the same, despite his circumstances, Link made the best of things. He didn't mope over the fact that he couldn't go home; instead, he decided to start a new life within the World of the Ocean King. He and Ciela eventually decided to set sail with Linebeck, searching for adventure and treasure, along with any new lands they could possibly happen upon. Over the course of the past four years, life had treaded into a normal routine for all of three of them as they explored just about every corner of the seas of the Ocean King.

It was a life that the young hero had settled into nicely and it was one that he was rather content with, but something was missing. And he knew exactly what that something was: Tetra. Not a day went by when Link didn't miss her, when he didn't wish to see her again, even if it was only for a moment. Even though she used to deny it all of the time, the two of them had grown to be close friends, and he had a feeling that if they were still together, their relationship would have definitely grown beyond that. Whenever he thought about her, he'd not only look back to the past however. He would think about the present as well. He wondered how she was doing and what she looked like now. He wondered if she had told his family or anyone else what had happened. He wondered if her and her crew had found a land that could be the next Hyrule. And he wondered if she ever thought about him, or if, in all her stoic, brash ways, she forgot about him altogether and resumed the rough life of pirating that she had led before the two of them met.

Despite the fact that he hadn't seen Tetra in five years, Link still remembered everything about her: the sharp, yet pretty features of her face, her firm, commanding voice, her sly, flirtatious wink. But those were all simply from memory. The only physical thing from her that he had left was her red scarf, which she had given to him for luck right before he jumped onto the Ghost Ship. He always kept the precious strip of scarlet cloth with him, securely tied to his belt at all times. It reminded him not only of the pirate girl he missed so much, but also of the home that he was certain he'd never be able to return to. And on this particular afternoon as he stood upon the SS Linebeck, riding along like he always did, he unceremoniously untied the scarf and held it in his hands, staring at it longingly as it flittered in the breeze.

"You really miss her, don't you?" Ciela asked him as she slowly glided around his head.

Link sighed, clutching the scarf even tighter. "Yeah..." he said quietly. "I do..."

"'Hoy, you two!" Linebeck's gruff, yet chipper voice called out as he emerged from below deck with a map in his hand.

Ciela turned to face him, as did Link as soon as he had tied the scarf back to his belt. "'Hoy Linebeck," he said, though with not nearly as much enthusiasm.

"Hey now, kid!" the captain said, noticing the hero's lack of his usual fervor. "What's with the long face?"

"He's thinking about 'you-know-who' again..." Ciela cut in, much to Link's aggravation.

"No," Linebeck said blankly. "Who?"

"Oh, come on!" the fairy bounced up and down in annoyance with his ignorance. "You can't be this dense! I'm talking about Tetra! You know, the pirate girl that Link used to travel with before he came here?"

"Oh, right! You should have just said so, Sparkles!" he exclaimed, using the nickname he commonly referred to Ciela by. "Listen kid..." he started, speaking to Link this time.

"You don't have to keep calling me 'kid' anymore, you know," the hero said in irritation. "I am seventeen after all..."

"Thirteen, seventeen, what's the difference?" Linebeck said avertedly. "All the same, you think about that girl too much. One might even call you down-right obsessed! Talk about living in the past... You're just like Jolene!" The captain rolled his eyes at the thought of the pirate woman who had been continuously stalking him for the past several years over a longstanding grudge she held against him. "You gotta move on, kid! I'm sure she already has!"

"Maybe you're right..." Link said with a half-hearted smile.

"Maybe?" Linebeck scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous! I'm always right! Now, let's get down to business. Take a look at this!" He unfurled the map of the sea that he was holding, pointing to a position within the southwest quadrant. "See where we are?"

"Yeah," the hero nodded, examining the map along with Ciela. "Near Spirit Island. So what?"

"So..." the captain grinned proudly as he rolled the map back up. "I was checking the astral charts earlier and I found out that something BIG is supposed to happen around here TONIGHT!"

"Like what?" Ciela asked skeptically, hoping that this wasn't another one of Linebeck's wild ideas.

"Its something that is rumored to happen only once every one hundred years!" he said, his blue eyes alight with somewhat greedy excitement, which always happened when he spoke of treasure. "They say that on this special night, these mystical things called "Force Gems" rain down from the heavens. Apparently, they're powerful enough to grant any wish at all!"

"What?!" Link exclaimed, his eyes growing wide upon hearing this. "Any wish?"

"What did I just say?" Linebeck asked sarcastically, though it was easy to tell that he was still excited. "They can grant any of your heart's desires! Or more specifically, my heart's desires, 'cause I'm gonna use them to wish for mountains and mountains of treasure and rupees! I'm gonna be filthy rich!"

Link was hardly listening to the captain go on about his desire of wealth as he started to formulate a plan of his own for what he wanted to wish for. If these Force Gems were as powerful as Linebeck claimed, then certainly they would be able to do what the Ocean King couldn't and send him home, back to the Great Sea. The prospect excited him greatly. If this worked, then he'd be able to see Tetra again after five long years of separation.

"I know what you're thinking..." Ciela whispered to the hero as a wide smile claimed his face. "And... are you sure you really want to leave...? I know you miss Tetra, but who knows how much your world has changed since you've been gone? You have it great here and besides... if you left, I'd really miss you, Link... You know how much I worry about you..." She spoke truthfully. During their mission to defeat Bellum, the Spirit of Courage had acted as the hero's guide and companion, a role that she continued to uphold even after the monster was gone. She truly cared about him and every time he put himself in danger, she would fret and worry herself sick over him. The very idea of him leaving and going back into an unknown world made her heart sink.

He smiled kindly at the fairy, understanding her position. "Then why don't you come with me, Ciela?" he offered. "You'd love the Great Sea. Its just like this sea, only-"

"Only its where Tetra is..." Ciela cut in somewhat dejectedly. "Link... I don't think... the Ocean King... he... I... Well, I'm the Spirit of Courage... and..." The fairy sighed, unsure of what she was really trying to say. "I really want to..." she gave him a slight smile as she pondered the matter for another moment. "But... Are you sure this is really what you want?" she asked Link.

The hero nodded immediately, taking a brief glance down to Tetra's scarf. "Yes," he said firmly, imagining what it would be like to meet the pirate captain again after so long. "Its the only thing I've wanted for the past five years..."

* * *

Later that night, SS Linebeck drifted loftily in the waters near Spirit Island as the bright moon shined down upon them. Link, Linebeck and Ciela all kept their gazes locked onto the starry skies above, each of them trying to catch their first glimpse of the Force Gems.

"Oh, I can smell the treasure already!" Linebeck said, savoring the thought of riches untold. "What are you gonna wish for, kid?"

Link smiled, still scarcely believing that he had finally found his chance after so many years of waiting. "I'm going to wish to go home," he said, absentmindedly stroking Tetra's scarf gently.

"What?!" the captain exclaimed, his jaw dropped in surprise as he stared at the hero in disbelief and concern.

"You heard me," Link said, using the same soft sarcastic tone that Linebeck often used with him. He didn't smile though, knowing that he'd miss the old curmudgeon of a captain, who had become something of a father figure to him over the past few years.

Linebeck was still staring at him with wide eyes before he caught himself, looking away and brushing aside any signs of caring. "Well... yeah..." he said, trying to hide the slight despondency in his tone. "Its just... I can't believe you're not gonna wish for treasure! I mean, something like this only happens once every one hundred years, and you're gonna waste it just so you can get back to your old girlfriend!? Haven't I taught you anything these past four years?!"

"Tetra's not my girlfriend!" the hero protested before breaking out into a smile. "You're gonna miss me, aren't you Linebeck?"

The old captain was silent for a moment before turning further away from his young traveling companion. "No," he said stoutly, crossing his arms and gazing up into the sky with a sour look.

Link and Ciela exchanged a brief glance before the fairy flew over to him. "You know, Linebeck..." she said in her bright, tinkling voice. "As much as I think you're a pain in the neck... It'd be great if you came with us... So... Will you?"

Linebeck was quiet for a moment before turning to the fairy with a bitter scowl on his face. "Please!" he scoffed. "You think I'm gonna wish my wish on something as stupid as going to some far off sea that probably has no treasure to speak of when I can have all the treasure in the world delivered to me in one swoop!? Dream on, Sparkles!" Ciela backed off and came to glide near Link once more as the hero looked at the captain with a frown.

"Aw, come on, kid..." Linebeck rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Don't give me that look! You know that the whole "stepping out of my boundaries" thing just isn't me. And besides, this is your dream, not mine."

"Is treasure really your only dream then, Linebeck?" Link asked, raising a critical eyebrow at him.

Before the captain could answer, the night skies above them suddenly lit up brilliantly as millions of triangular shaped objects began to rain down from the heavens. They were all of different sizes and colors and they fell slowly, so one could admire their bright radiance as they came down.

"Force Gems..." Linebeck whispered in awe as all three of them stared at the mystical objects in wonder.

"They're beautiful..." Ciela chimed as she flew up close to one to examine it better. Eventually, the Force Gems made their way down to the surface of the world, most of them landing in the sea, but a few of them touching down on the SS Linebeck, where they floated slightly above ground, their iridescent glows not fading away.

Holding their hands out in front of them, Link and Linebeck each caught their own Force Gem, each of them about as large as a head as they hovered over their palms. The trio was completely silent as they stared at the beautiful things, before the hero looked up at the captain expectantly.

"Well?" he asked, catching Linebeck off guard. "Aren't you going to wish for your treasure?"

The captain frowned, though he quickly turned it into a casual expression. "Yeah, yeah..." he said in his usual fashion. "You make your wish first, kid. I don't want you thinking you can make off with any of MY treasure and take it back to your world or whatever..."

Link couldn't help but smile at Linebeck's enjoyably paranoid ways. "Well... even if you're not going to miss me, Linebeck, I think I might miss you just a bit," he said sincerely.

"Don't get all mushy on me now, kid," Linebeck said somewhat sharply, before letting out an exasperated sigh. "But I guess this is goodbye so... You're a good kid, Link... Don't go home and turn out be a screw-up like I was..."

"You're not a screw-up," Link said reassuringly.

"Yeah, I am..." the old captain said, glancing down at his feet sheepishly. "But I have a feeling that you're better than that. You've got guts, but you've also got brains, which is a combination not many people have. Your pirate girl will be lucky to have you back."

"Thanks Linebeck," the hero said graciously. "For everything."

The captain nodded with a slight grin. "Yeah, yeah," he said, feigning impatience. "Now get on out of here and go back home. You too, Sparkles."

"I hate to say it..." Ciela said, flying up close to Linebeck. "But I think I'm gonna miss you too, you salty old sea-dog." With a slight giggle, the fairy glided in and gave the captain a quick kiss on the top of the head, much the embarrassment of both of them.

"Well, I guess this is it," Link said with a resolved smile. "Goodbye Linebeck..."

"'Bye kid," Linebeck said with a soft, actually warm smile. "Who knows? Maybe we'll see each other again someday... Now go on, make your wish... You've earned it..."

The hero nodded, taking one last look at the captain before gazing down at the green Force Gem in his own hands. Ciela tucked herself away inside of his cap to make sure she would not get left behind. Taking in a deep breath, Link closed his eyes and concentrated, thinking of nothing but Tetra as he made his wish. "I wish to go back home..." he said firmly as light from the Force Gem started to envelop him, granting his wish. "Back to the Great Sea... Back to Tetra..."

* * *

**So, what did you all think of my really long and expansive chapter 1? hahaha, I have to say that I personally love the heck out of this chapter and it has me so excited about writing the rest of this story! And the next chapter's also gonna be great because in it, Link and Tetra are going to see each other again for the first time in five years! What's gonna happen? I don't know (yes I do). Review and maybe you'll find out... Next time!**


	3. Chapter 2: A Fated Reunion

**What? Its been like almost a whole month since I last updated this story?! No way! Sorry guys! I kinda got distracted by Blood and Spirit, as well as life in general and writer's block... Hahaha... **

**Anyway, Thanks to everyone who has followed, favorited and reviewed so far and please feel free to keep them coming! Before we begin, I'd also like to say that I finally put the cover for this story that I drew up on deviantART! You may find it by going to art/Twisted-Fates-410127639 **

**Comment on it if you'd like XD Now onto the story!**

* * *

_Chapter 2: A Fated Reunion_

Tetra frowned as she watched Outset Island come into full view. To say that she had not been near the place in years was an understatement; to say that no one had been to the small isle in years was much more appropriate. About four years ago, a fierce storm, unlike any ever seen upon the Great Sea before, struck Outset, ravaging the island and completely obliterating the few small homes that dotted it. Luckily, none of its former residents had been caught up in the raging hurricane winds and destructive torrents of rain; all of them had been warned about the storm several days before it came and they all had the good sense to flee to safer parts of the sea. Once the storm had passed, the people found that there was little left of their island to come back to and so they simply decided to make their homes in other places across the Great Sea instead of trying to rebuild. Since then, the place had been completely abandoned and largely untouched, something that Tetra was glad for. It meant that no one would be around to see the final tears that she was going to shed over the hero.

When the pirate ship had closed in on the island, yet still quite a ways from its shore, Tetra quietly slipped onto one of the lifeboats and lowered it down into the dark waters. She let her thoughts wander as she rowed towards the shore at a steady pace. When her mother had died when she was a little girl, she didn't really remember much of what had happened, but she remembered the pain well. The grief of loosing someone important to her and the burden of having to take on the responsibility of leading the crew had crafted her into the brutal, firm, unyielding girl she used to be up until five years ago. And back then, she thought that the relatively short span it had taken her to recover from her mother's death had been too long, But the much longer span of five years that it had taken her to finally come to terms with the fact that Link was gone had been by far too long in her opinion. Had it really damaged her to much that she had been trapped in a state of constant depression for half a decade, while the rest of the world steadily went on without her? She knew that clearly, this had to end and it was going to that very night. She was determined to finally move on, to let her regret and sorrow go and find herself once more, even if she no longer had the hero who helped her find herself in the first place.

A wave of memories washed over the pirate captain as she stepped foot on the sandy beach of Outset. Though the entire island was overgrown with plant life and the scattered debris of destroyed dwellings, her mind still flashed back to that bright and sunny morning years ago, when her and Link first met and first started traveling together. It had been under less than desirable circumstances, as the only reason Tetra had found herself on Outset in the first place was because a giant bird had kidnapped her and accidentally dropped her there. The monstrous creature had then proceeded to capture Link's little sister, Aryll, and take her off to the Forsaken Fortress, prompting the boy to seek passage on the pirate ship so he could rescue her. The young captain had initially been vehemently opposed to the idea, but after some persuasion, she reluctantly agreed and a deal was struck between the two of them.

From that point, everything had seemed to unfurl at once in a rush of events that both children had found themselves caught up in. Link had failed in his initial attempt to rescue his sister and got abruptly tossed out of the Forsaken Fortress, though it hadn't really been of much concern to Tetra at the time, who had thought that the boy had been too brazen and foolish to charge into the dangerous place so unprepared. For a period of several weeks afterword, life on the pirate ship had returned to normal, that is until word of a tempting treasure known as the Nayru's Pearl hit Tetra's ears and she immediately set out to claim it as her own. However, she quickly found out she was not alone in her search, for Link was looking for it as well to help him save Aryll. When the pirate girl discovered this, she had felt a rare twinge of pity and decided to let this prize slip through her fingers for once. And even more than that, in a strange, noble moment, she even helped the boy actually save his sister first hand, and even leaped in heroically as they both came face-to-face with the evil Ganondorf for the first time. Though they managed to escape the dangerous encounter with their lives, their journey was not over. What happened after occurred such a quick succession that thinking about it still made the pirate captain's head spin. The two children went down to the underwater kingdom of Hyrule, where Tetra discovered that she was actually Princess Zelda, and from there King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule had made Link's next task clear: to restore the blade of evil's bane, the Master Sword and find the Triforce of Courage. And after all of this, Link and Zelda had faced Ganondorf once more, this time on the fateful field of battle, where they barely emerged victorious. In the wake of Hyrule's permanent flooding, the hero and the pirate girl had made the decision to set sail together and find a place to build a new land, a place that would become the new Hyrule, a task that even after five years, Tetra had been unable to accomplish on her own.

The fact that she had failed to rebuild the kingdom that was rightfully hers was just another thing that brought shame to Tetra. And she knew exactly why she had failed too; because she had spent the last five years doing nothing but miserably moping over Link. But she knew that was all about to be over. Once she finally let go of the pain, she'd be able to fully devote herself to their initial task of discovering a new land. And perhaps if she did, then maybe she'd finally feel at least halfway fulfilled again.

Tetra let these thoughts and regrets swim around in her mind as she made her way up the barely recognizable path that led to the run-down, long-abandoned hut that stood on the westernmost side of the island. The last time she had seen this house was when her and the pirates came to Outset five years ago to tell the hero's grandmother and sister of his terrible fate. Back then, the small house, and the entire island had carried an air of comfort and serenity. Now that it had been battered by winds and waves and been untouched for several years, it had a feeling of solemn, ominous loneliness. And even more than that for Tetra, it stood out as a symbol of what she had lost. Though it had never been her home, she knew that Link had lived there once; in fact, it was where he had been born, and where he had spent his childhood at and the fact that Tetra had basically been the one to take him away from this once-peaceful haven just so he could meet his end on the high seas, made her feel even more guilty.

Though it hadn't been washed out to sea or it hadn't collapsed completely like some of the other houses on the island had, the home's wooden exterior was still worn and storm-beaten. Its roof had caved in at several places and it no longer had a door at all. And so, Tetra stepped through the empty doorway tentatively, glancing around the similarly decrepit interior. The floor was strewn with plant remains that had been blown into the house, plus a few items that its former inhabitants had left behind. The entire right wall of the house had been blown down, opening the way to the porch that surrounded the house and looked out onto the open seas. The light of the large full moon flooded into the house from this wide opening, washing over Tetra along with another wave of sadness. She knew what she was about to do would be hard, but she had to do it anyway. Even if it was for no one else then herself.

As the pirate captain crossed the single room house on her way to the balcony, she heard the sudden crunch of glass underneath her foot. She stopped to glance down at the floor, where she found something that she quickly wished she hadn't. The shattered glass came from a framed picture that had apparently been left behind by Aryll and Grandma when they fled the island. Though Tetra didn't really want to, she picked the pictograph up and examined it with growing grief. It was a picture that she recognized, for she knew that Link had sent a copy of it back home not too long before the Ghost Ship incident. The pictograph was of the pirate girl and the hero, standing back to back near the railing of the pirate ship, both of them grinning at the other with both slyness and friendliness. Simply looking at the image brought back memories of fonder, simpler times. Trying to hold back her tears, Tetra shook her head and let the faded picture fall to the ground, just as she wanted the rest of her memories of him fall away into the past where they belonged, once and for all.

* * *

The first thing Link felt after making his wish upon the Force Gem was a slight rocking sensation underneath him, followed by the chill of the blowing sea breeze. He opened his eyes to the sound of the water gently splashing against whatever he was lying on to look up into the starry night skies above. But before he could really gather his bearings, he heard the sound of Ciela's muffled voice coming from underneath his cap. He slipped it off for a moment, allowing the fairy to fly out into the open as he sat up.

"So..." Ciela asked, glancing around at the vast expanse of ocean that surrounded them and noting that both Linebeck and his ship were nowhere to be found, as well as any of the Force Gems that they had previously been surrounded by. "Did it work?"

"I think so..." the hero mused as he turned to get a better view of their surroundings. And as he did so, he realized that not only was he sitting within a small boat adrift in the middle of the sea, but it was an unmistakably familiar one at that. Ciela noticed it too and circled around it to examine it with curiosity.

"Oh hey..." she said in slight confusion. "What's this boat? Where'd it come from?"

"Its the King of Red Lions!" Link exclaimed with a smile, fondly remembering the many days he had spent traveling across the Great Sea with this now-unliving boat companion. "That means we must be in the Great Sea!"

"Well you were right..." Ciela said as she came to float in front of him once more. "Your sea doesn't really look that different from the World of the Ocean King..."

The hero nodded and took another glance around the dark waters around them, trying to spot any signs of an island, or even a boat nearby. "Ciela, can you go high and see if there's anything close to us that we could sail to?" he asked the fairy, who was quick to comply but flying up several feet above him into the air.

"Um... I see an island a little ways up to the north from us!" she called down to him. "I can't out too much about it though..." she said as she returned to his level.

"That's OK," Link said as he turned to the small storage compartment that he remembered being near the back end of the boat. "I just need to figure out where we are before we go looking for Tetra."

"Somehow I knew that find her would be your first priority," Ciela said with a slight giggle as the hero shuffled through the contents of the compartment. To his surprise, there was a number of useful items inside of it: the sail that he had used five years ago to navigate across the vast seas, the pirate's charm, which Tetra had lent to him when they first met and had never bothered to get back from him, along with his boomerang, grappling hook, and bow, plus a sizable stash of bombs for the boat's cannon. Fortunately enough, Link had also been able to bring the sword and shield that he had gotten in the World of the Ocean King along with him, which meant that in the unlikely event that he encountered any danger, he'd be readily prepared to handle it. But all the same, the hero was still puzzled as to how the King of Red Lions had ended up in the middle of the ocean in the first place, considering the last place he remembered it being before he was taken away from the Great Sea five years ago was on board Tetra's pirate ship, where it had been stored in the cargo hold along with the vast majority of his gear, save for the Wind Waker, which he had left in the care of the pirate captain.

"How did all of this stuff get here?" he asked aloud wonderingly, knowing that this couldn't be a mere coincidence.

"Maybe the Force Gem did it," the fairy suggested as Link started to set the sail up so they could go to the nearby island. "Maybe it somehow knew that you might need these things here. Its not impossible... After all, they say that sometimes, when you have a good or noble wish granted, whatever grants your wish will also provide you with whatever you might need to help you once its granted."

The hero wasn't paying a great deal of attention to her as he turned the boat around to face the direction of the island. A northernly wind was already blowing, which was fortunate as he didn't have the Wind Waker in his possession at the moment to help him change the direction of the breeze. And, as Ciela finished talking, he raised the sail and the small boat lurched forward, quickly skipping along the cresting waves as it always used to. However, unlike before, Link was unable to keep a steady balance while standing on the boat as it sailed along since he had naturally grown taller from the boyish height he had been five years ago, and so now he had to sit to allow the ship to maintain its course. Ciela flew alongside him quickly, beating her wings at a feverish pace just to keep up as the pair approached the island, which was only a few miles away.

Despite the fact that the cold autumn sea gales were beating upon him as he traveled, the hero hardly noticed them as he grew more and more excited over the fact that he was about to meet Tetra again after so many years. Until now, this had only been a dream of his, one that he had always wished would come true, but now it was finally within reach. He could hardly wait to see her again after so long and he wondered if she felt the same. But at the same time, he was somewhat nervous about how the pirate captain might react. Knowing Tetra, there was a high chance that she wouldn't believe him when he told her the reason why he had been gone for so long, and she would only push him away in anger, despite the fact that she had been the only thing on his mind for five years. He had no idea how she would respond for sure, but one thing was certain: he wanted nothing more than to bridge the long gap between them and resume the close bond that they had once shared.

As the small boat drew closer to the island, its shape grew clearer and clearer on the horizon. And as the light of the full moon shined down upon it, Link was finally able to tell what island it was, for it was a place that he knew quite well. "That's Outset!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Its where I grew up!"

"It looks like there's a ship floating in the waters close to it..." Ciela mused somewhat uneasily as she flew a little ways ahead to get a better look. "It kinda looks like a pirate ship!"

"A pirate ship?" the hero's eyes grew wide upon hearing this. "It must be Tetra and her crew! They're the only pirates who sail the Great Sea!"

"You think so?" the fairy asked and Link didn't hesitate to nod his confirmation. "Well, what do you think they could be doing at your old home so late at night?"

"I don't know," he said, too delighted to even care what Tetra's purpose in coming to Outset might be. "But we're going to find out."

The pair was silent for the remainder of the trip as they finally passed the ship lurking in the nearby waters, confirming that it was indeed Tetra's ship. However, immediately after speeding by it, the hero got a better look at his former home, which he was now only a few feet out from, and his excitement about seeing Tetra again was quickly replaced with shock at what he saw. Outset Island lay in shambles, completely devastated by some unknown force. As the King of Red Lions finally met the sandy shore of the island, Link hopped out and was stunned speechless as he took in the sight of the deserted, destroyed place that had been a peaceful, pristine paradise the last time he saw it five years ago.

"What... what happened here?" he managed to stammer out after several minutes of silence.

"Oh, Link..." Ciela said gently, in equal awe at the island's rundown state. "I have no idea... Maybe a storm or something came and-"

"I don't get it..." the hero interrupted her in a quiet, morose voice. He wasn't one to get upset easily, but upon returning home after five long years only to find it standing as a haunted shadow of what it once had been hit him hard on a personal level. "This wasn't how this was supposed to be... Where is everyone? Where's Aryll or Grandma? ...Where's Tetra?"

"They're probably all OK!" the fairy said with bright encouragement, though it did little to raise his spirits. "And maybe Tetra is here! Why don't you check around for her?"

Link ignored her and hung his head in shame, looking at the untouched sand at his feet. "This is my fault..." he said with guilt. "Maybe if I had been here, I could have done something and-"

"Listen to me, Link," Ciela said firmly, making sure that he gave her complete eye contact as she addressed him. "Whatever happened here, clearly nobody could have stopped it, not even you. I know that this isn't what you expected to come back to, but things were bound to change over five years. But all the same, I don't think anyone died in whatever destroyed this place. I don't sense any signs of death in the area... That means that everyone, including your sister and grandma, must have gotten out fine!"

The hero stared at the fairy for a long time, mulling over her words. While it was true that his childhood home laid in nothing more than ruins now, perhaps his family was still out there somewhere, waiting for him to return. And he knew that aside from reuniting with Tetra once more, he was going to find Aryll and Grandma and reunite with them once again too. "You're right, Ciela," Link said with a small smile, letting his frustration and sadness over the demolished island fade away. "I can't live in the past and think about what I could have done. I can only go forward now."

"And I think I know of a way for you to move forward even as we speak..." the fairy said somewhat coyly as she directed his gaze towards his former house, or its remains anyway. Though they were several feet away from it, they were both able to watch as a lone figure, silhouetted by the light of the silver moon, stepped out onto the open back porch of the house and stood there in near perfect stillness. Link's heart started to pound fast with elation and desire when he saw her and he didn't even have to think twice about who she was. Without a word, he started up the rough path towards the house, keeping his gaze locked onto her and trying to find the words that he wanted to say to her to finally bridge the gap of time that had separated them for so long.

* * *

Tetra stepped out onto the open porch, letting the full glow of the large and lofty moon bare down on her. She stopped right in front of the worn and somewhat rotted wooden railing of the platform and stared out into the dark blue seas, which reflected the glow of the moon and stars and never seemed to end as it droned on into the distance. The crashing of the waves against the shore and the sound of the softly whistling wind were all she could hear, but even those seemed drowned out compared to the loudness of her thoughts, which were all vying for attention at once.

Still staring at the open waters, the pirate captain took the Wind Waker out of her pocket and held it in her hands for the last time. Its smooth, white metal surface also sparkled in the moonlight as Tetra wondered just how many times Link might have taken the thing out at night to conduct the winds in his favor over the course of his journey to save his sister, and later, the pirate girl, or princess rather, herself. She decided to let her pressing tears finally fall as she pictured him the way he once was: youthful, vibrant, smart, caring and most of all, brave. Perhaps it had been those simple qualities that she had respected most about him. She had been envious though, and she still was, over the fact that she would never be anything like him. She was too selfish, bitter, crue, cowardly, and hopeless to even come close. She had never understood why he had been the way he was, but maybe she wasn't supposed to. Maybe the reason behind why he was able to fight without flinching while at the same time show deep compassion and understanding was something she would never fully comprehend. Maybe it was inherent or something else, but the Hero of Winds had truly embodied everything that a hero was supposed to be. And it was for that reason that Tetra felt personally responsible for the demise of such a worthy hero.

The pirate captain's tears began to fall harder as she started to break into choked sobs, clutching the Wind Waker closer to her chest. Not only had the world lost such a great hero, but she had lost such a great friend. She knew that she would probably never be as close to anyone as she had been to Link. Despite the fact that she had, on several occasions, refuted his kindness and friendship, he had willingly given them to her anyway, but why? Why had he cared so much about her to journey across dangerous waters and fight masses of vile monsters for her sake? Why had he been willing to jump onto that death trap of a Ghost Ship in her place?

The girl shook her head as she cried her heart out, pain and sorrow eating away at every part of her, threatening to cave her in completely. All of the hurt of the past five years came crashing down upon her at once and it was too much. She almost collapsed to her knees from heartache before grasping onto the railing firmly. After a few deep, heavy breaths of pent up grief and rage, Tetra stood up straight once more and forced her tears to stop. Her heart still racing feverishly, she held onto the Wind Waker with both hands and glared down at it, remembering with resolve what she came her to do and what she was not going to leave without doing.

* * *

Link slowed his pace down as he came to the open doorway of his former home, hearing clear sobs coming from the inside, or rather the back porch of the house. He stopped within the doorframe and didn't even glance over towards the open back end of the house out of sudden nervousness and worry. He had no idea what she could be crying about; in fact, he had never once seen her shed so much as a single tear before, but there was no mistaking it now. The very thought of seeing her in tears almost frightened him, since he had always known her to be so strong and resilant. He stood perfectly silent and still as he listened to the sound of her weeping as it intensified into ragged sounds of agony before flattening out into a spell of sharp, deep breathing. And then, as suddenly as it had started, it faded off into silence, with only the sounds of the sea and the wind remaining. And the hero knew, that now, it was finally time.

He gave an anxious glance to Ciela, who understood his intent without him having to say a word. The fairy nodded and perched herself on the outside of the doorframe so the two of them could be alone upon meeting once more. Link took in a quiet deep breath and briefly touched the red cloth still secured to his belt as he took a near-silent step forward into the house, still not sure about how he was even going to go about doing this.

* * *

Tetra cleared her mind of every thought so she wouldn't be able to stop herself. With slow movements, she grasped the Wind Waker with one hand and raised it up into the air, staring at the deep sea before her all the while. It took all of her power to hold her tears back, but she somehow managed to, despite the fact that it felt as though her heart was literally breaking.

As the pirate girl started to draw her arm back, the hero stopped several feet behind her, still completely unnoticed. Link wasn't entirely sure of what she was doing, but he was able to make out the sight of the Wind Waker that he had left with her all those years ago, grasped into her hand and pulled back, almost as if she planned on throwing it into the ocean. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out as his eyes grew wide in amazement and sudden, unplaceable fear. It shouldn't be this hard, and yet, for some reason it was almost impossible.

Tetra closed her eyes as she counted down in her head. _3_. This was it. She was finally going to be free again. Free to open up and be her old self again. _2_. But what had really stopped her from being free in the first place? Her memories of better times long gone by? Or something else entirely? _1_. Did she really want to let those memories go after all? _Now_! Before her thoughts could linger too long on that final question, the pirate girl thrust her arm forward but she did not relinquish her steady grip on the white baton as she had intended to. Another sob was burning in the back of her throat, and she was about to let it out when a sudden voice from behind her nearly caused her to jump out of her skin. "Tetra?"

Link took a quick defensive step back as Tetra whirled around in a movement so quick he barely saw it, grasping onto her trusty dagger firmly with one hand, and still holding onto the Wind Waker tightly with the other. But no more than a second after she did, she dropped the baton and let it fall to the ground in an almost inaudible clatter as she let out a sharp gasp of shock and sudden fear. Her chest tightened and her eyes grew wide as she stared at the hero, her eyes not leaving him for a second. A shiver of terror swept through her body as she closed her eyes tightly, trying to get rid of the sight of him if he was an illusion, but sure enough when she opened them, he was still there, still staring at her with the same level of surprise and awe.

"Link..?" she barely whispered audibly as she looked over the hero with her mouth agape. Over the past five years, she had often seen him within her dreams or nightmares, but never like this. In all of those occasions, he had been as she had remembered him: a bright-eyed, somewhat short and stocky twelve year old boy with mostly childish features. But now he stood before as a seventeen year old young man, tall and lean and quite handsome. In many ways, he did look quite the same; he was still garbed in the same manner of green attire that he used to wear and his blonde hair still stuck out from underneath his cap to partially sweep across his forehead, giving it a natural wind-blown look. His eyes were still the same shade of dark green that she had remembered them being, only instead of having a manner of boyish innocence to them, it was replaced with a respectable level of maturity and hardness, but at the same time understanding and even the slightest hint of pain. Tetra didn't know how to react as a million emotions came over her at once and so she simply stood still and kept examining him, hoping that if she did so enough times, he would eventually disappear like the rest of her illusions and dreams.

At the same time, Link stood taking in how much Tetra had changed over the years with amazement and also slight admiration. He had always known her to be pretty when she was younger, but now, she could only be described as beautiful, though not in a ladylike way, but rather a fierce, bold one. Her skin was even darker than he had remembered it being, from spending an entire life sailing within the golden sunshine that painted her smooth skin such a warm color. Her golden blonde hair stood out against it, still piled atop her head in its trademark bun as two curled locks came framed both sides of her face and some of her bangs spilled in front of her dark, alluring, blue eyes, which were currently red-rimmed from crying. She had a thin, curvaceous, feminine shape about her, as was natural for a seventeen year old young woman, though at the same time, she was also firm and strong. A small golden image of the Triforce was tattooed on her upper left arm, to match her earrings and the banner that hung from her cloth belt that bared the shame crest as an homage to the kingdom that was supposed to be her charge. The hero also noticed in surprise and curiosity that the pirate captain's left leg had been replaced with a wooden peg, though she seemed to have no trouble standing or walking on it. But all the same, all Link could really think about as he took in the sight of her was that she had remained the same, while still changing so much.

For what seemed like an eternity, the two of them stood completely still, holding their breaths in anticipation, neither of them sure of what they could possibly say at a moment like this. Both of their minds were rushing with a million thoughts and emotions at once, but there was no way they could voice them at a moment like this. And then, after several minutes of this prolonged tension-filled silence, Tetra was the first to move by slowly shaking her head in disbelief. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be. It was beyond everything that she knew to be true. There was no possible way that this was the real Link; this had to be some kind of illusion or nightmare. That was the only logical explanation, but it still brought fear to the pirate captain nonetheless. Had the pain and solitude of the past five years really driven her to the brink of insanity, causing her to see things in the depths of her sorrow? Taking in a sharp breath, Tetra gripped her dagger tighter and backed up slowly until her back was against the porch's railing.

A sudden panic came over Link as he watched Tetra shuffle back, her expression looking frightened and not in the least happy to see him. But all the same, he had been apart from her for five years; he had no intentions of being apart from her now. "Tetra, wait!" he called out, starting to take a step towards her. The pirate girl jumped in fear and surprise at the sound of his voice, as she was still trying to place where this vision of the grown-up hero had come from.

"Don't come any closer!" Tetra shouted with a harsh glare, trying to feign anger in her voice but mostly amplifying hurt.

The hero stopped in his tracks and gave her a look of utter confusion. "Tetra, its me," he said with slight pleading in his tone, trying to get her to calm down and listen, despite the fact that he had clearly shocked her. "Its Link."

"No!" Tetra hissed bitterly. "The real Link has been dead for five years! I watched him go down with the Ghost Ship myself..." The pirate girl trailed off as tears started to roll down her cheeks once more. She had not spoken this aloud to anyone, even herself, since it had happened. All these years, she had been too afraid and too hurt to. But now, as the words came tumbling out of her own mouth, she was reminded of how final it had seemed. Now, however, it was as though her mind was trying to change what fate had ultimately laid out five years prior.

"Dead?" Link was taken aback by his claim. If Tetra thought he had been dead for all of these years, then who else upon the Great Sea did? "But I'm not dead!"

"Yes, you are!" Tetra groaned in aggravation as she suppressed another sob. "I don't even know why I'm arguing with you! You're nothing more than a figment of my imagination!"

"But Tetra-" Link started, but he was quickly cut off by the frustrated, grieving pirate captain.

"Stop it!" she cried out in both fury and sadness as she looked away from him. "Just... just leave me alone... Forever!" Before the hero could even move to stop her, she leapt over the railing of the porch, landing skillfully on the beach and not even looking back as she ran towards the lifeboat she had came here on. Link rushed forward to the edge of the porch and called out to her in a desperate attempt to get her to stop.

"Tetra, wait!" he shouted, leaping off the porch himself as the pirate captain got her boat back into the water. "Come back!" Despite his pleadings, she refused to stop even for a second, just as much as she refused to believe that she had actually reunited with the hero himself. The moment she got the lifeboat shoved off of the shore, she hopped in and started paddling towards the ship at a hurried pace, hot tears still streaming down her face.

By the time Link made it down to the edge of the shore, Tetra had almost already made it back to her ship. Though he wanted to chase after her and get her to see reason, he had a feeling that she wouldn't listen to a word he said, no matter what. For some reason, she just wasn't willing to accept the fact that he had returned. The hero's heart sank as he watched the pirate girl slip away. After years of waiting and wishing to see her again, it had all been for nothing.

A soft, chilling autumn wind blew over the abandoned island as the Hero of Winds stood alone, watching as the very reason why he had been pining to return home disappeared out of sight. He didn't say a single word as Ciela rejoined him, having heard everything that had happened back at the house. "Link..." she said consolingly as the wind started to propel the pirate ship across the vast seas. "I'm so sorry..."

The hero remained silent as he simply shook his head, while at the same time hardening his resolve. Though Tetra didn't want to believe that he was back now, Link was certain that she would accept it eventually. And when she did, he wanted to be there, so they could have the proper, happy reunion that he had been dreaming of for the past five years. And though he didn't know how, he was going to make her believe somehow. Maybe then, things could finally go back to the way they used to be.

What neither the pirate captain or the hero could have known was that, as their ill-fated reunion had taken place, something had been watching them and plotting from the shadows. Something that couldn't wait to destroy them both.

* * *

**So, chapter 2 is finally over! Yay! This was kinda heavy, don't ya think? Well I can only tell you that I plan on making things even heavier as we go along so stick around! I'm thinking that the next chapter might be mostly focused on Link, as he discovers just how much has changed upon the Great Sea during his absence. Then, we'll go back to Tetra for some foreshadowing angst (you guys don't think I'm making her too angsty, do you?) So as always, don't forget to REVIEW because I LOVE them! Until next time!**


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